Team Bath AC

We set off for Swansea with high hopes for promotion in the NYAL having won all three matches and topping the League, albeit with a small points lead. Alas we had our hopes dashed as we had a very small team, due mostly to SW schools chamionships at Exeter the day before.

Although our main rivals, Swindon, Bristol and Yeovil were all hit to a certain extent by SW schools, we had the double whammy of a) having to provide athletes for two counties (Avon and Wiltshire) as opposed the other teams’ one county and b) we had to make the very long haul to Swansea whilst all the others had the relatively easy trip to Yeovil.

I know this sounds like whingeing but had we hosted the 4th match yesterday instead of the third a fortnight ago, the final result could be very different. So all credit to those athletes who made the long journeys both to Exeter on Saturday and Swansea on Sunday. The roll of honour reads as follows:- Livia Gauntlett, Michael Gardner, Shane Windsor, Alex Jones, Beth Richardson, Alice Reynolds, William Kennedy, Clare Dyer and Emily Hutchinson who all did both days and an even more special mention to Alex Jones and Emily Hutchinson wo also did Super8 last Wednesday.

Down to the nitty gritty. We finished third behind Llanelli/Neath (466 points) and Bridgend (409 points),while we had 373 points. We think Bristol have probably won the league with Yeovil second, Swindon third and ourselves fourth. Not too sure without sitting down and working it out but all 3 teams got many more points than us yesterday.

On the positive side, our small team did us proud and we had many winners and, of the 5 grade 1 performances on the day, 3 were done by TeamBath athletes, 2 of whom also went to Exeter. William Kennedy produced a hat trick of wins, following his success in Exeter, winning the U/15 boys 100m in 12.0, the 200m in 20.4 a G1 performance and the long jump with 5m37.

Clare Dyer followed her bronze medal in the long jump in Exeter with a G1 performance in her favoured event, the pole vault with a height of 3m10. Robert Howorth took a huge chunk off his PB in the U/13 boys 800m to win in a G1 time of 2.21.9 and then added wins in the 200m in 28.6 and the high jump with 1m30. The other triple winner was Michael Gardner with wins in the high jump with 1m70, the triple jump with 11m21 and 100m hurdles in 16.4.

Double winners were Emily Hutchinson with wins in the U/15 girls shot with 9m66 and discus with 20m29, Shane Windsor with wins in the U/17 mens 200m in 24.8 and long jump with 5m83 and Alice Reynolds with wins in the U/15 girls high jump with 1m50, a new PB and 200m in 28.6.

Other winners were Livia Gauntlett in the U/15 girls 75m hurdles in 12.2, Eliot Green in the U/17 mens 800m in 2.09.8, John Howorth in the U/13 boys 1,500m in 4.56.8, Alex Jones in the U/17 mens 400m in 54.9, Josh Hay in the U/17 mens hammer with 15m52, Matthew Holt in the U/17 mens javelin with 19m13 and Beth Richardson in the U/17 womens high jump with 1m55. 

 The athletes of the match for this match were Clare Dyer and Robert Howorth. the winners in the previous match at bath were Livia Gauntlett and Sophie Hay. Thanks to Alison Phillips and carline Howorth for all the hard work they have put in to get us so close to promotion this year. Also to Melvyn and Hannah for taking the towers at all the meetings and all parents and coaches who have been roped in to officiate.

Crazy scheduling of meetings has not helped, this league needs to be more spread out with the final meeting in July instead of June when school meetings are at their peak. I have put this point to Joyce Tomala, our area’s league representative but someone needs to go to the AGM in the autumn to make the point more forcibly. With a bit more commitment from some athletes and more specialist steeplechasers etc, we could win this league, we have the talent all we need is more commitment from certain athletes.

Results:

NYAL Swansea

Results:

Avon Schools

For the first time in its 27 year history (as far as I can remember and I am one of the founders) the Avon league match at Yate today was abandoned because of the weather. the unrelentling rain turned to hail and the wind got up and it was just too horrendous to continue. Less than half the programme was completed.

On the track, the hurdles races and the 3,000m and 1500m races went ahead, and in the field, the only completed event was the womens hammer. The U/11 & U/13 girls high jump was still in progress when it was abandoned. Our girls, Jasmine Hennessy and Sophie Hay, were awarded 1st and 2nd places on countback having the least failures at 1m30. We won the U/15 and U/17 girls hurdles races and our senior women came 1st and 2nd in the senior womens 1500m but no details as yet. Alison Phillips will have the names of the competitors.

A number of our athletes did really well at the Avon schools at yate. We won 4 of the high jump competitions, with Jasmine Hennessy winning the minor girls in a new PB of 1m40, which is only 3 cm away from the club record.

Alice Reynolds won the junior girls with 1m45 on countback, Beth Richardon won the inter girls, not too sure of the height and Ben Darling won the inter boys event, again don’t know the height. Katie Phillips won the inter girls hammer with a new PB (not exactly sure what).

Wilthsire schools are much more on the ball and full results are now on Power of 10. We had lots of winners and PBs, as the weather was kind for the first time this year. English Schools entry standards were achieved by Rhys Brown in the inter boys 400m hurdles in 57.9, William Kennedy in the junior boys 200m in 23.9, Chloe Merritt in the junior girls high jump with 1m57, a new PB, Emily Hutchinson in the junior girls shot with 10m70, a new PB.

Loren Bleaken set PBs in both the 800m in 2.13.0 and the 300m in 39.5, Jo Hutchinson in the senior boys 110m hurdles in 15.0 and Katherine Turner in the senior girls 800m in 2.14.8. Full results attached with apologies if there are athletes, especially minor boys and girls I missed (haven’t got all the results yet).

Wiltshire Schools Results:

Wiltshire Schools

The Avon County Athletics Association are holding  a series of 3 open track & field meetings over the summer at the Kip Keino Athletics Stadium, Stoke Gifford, Bristol. The dates are as follows:

1. June 22nd

2. July 13th

3. August 3rd

These meetings are for any athletes aged 9 on race day, all the way up to masters. This is a great opportunity therefore for any athletes regardless of age to compete on the track. It would be great to see some senior athletes compete in these events.

For event information, please go to the calendar section of the website for more details.

Team Bath had an excellent result at the Welsh Castles Relay. The team of 20 came 5th overall (an hour behind the winners Serpentine) out of a total of 58 teams. This is the club’s best position since 2009, and one of the best since the club first starting competing in this wonderful event.

Not only did the team finish 5th, we had two stage winners for first female runners (Laura Parsonage and Jo Thompson), and one vet stage winner (Niall Urquhart).

It all began on Saturday morning at 10:30 at Caernarfon castle, where the weather was perfect. Alan Buckingham, running his first competetive race since Berlin mararthon in 2009 got the team off to a great start, finishing 5th. Dave Gunstone then followed up with another great performance by finishing 5th on stage 2.

Dan Jones ran stage 3, the first of the mountain stages, and came 6th after having to run the vast majority of the stage totally isolated. A tough climb at the end and a sharp descent made for a great finish.

The standout performance though was Laura on stage 4. Not only was Laura first lady across the line, she finished 4th overall (only a minute behind the winner) and broke the stage record by a massive 2 minutes 49 seconds. Laura has been in great form of late, with a pb at the London 10k and this performance was the standout thus far.

Alan Every put in a strong performance on stage 5 finishing 5th. Nick Bower ran well (on a stage where support is minimal) to finish 20th. Mark Bown came an excellent 13th on stage 7, the second of the mountain stages, while Malcolm Treby ran well to finish a superb 14th on stage 8 (an unofficial mountain stage).

Andy Maggs had one of the best races of his life, finishing 6th on stage 9, while chairman Dave Coales ran an excellent race to finish 6th on stage 10 ( a tough mountain stage won by GB international Dan Robinson).

The team was in 3rd position overall at the end of day one, and Sunday brought more success for the team. The weather on Sunday was in stark contrast to Saturday. The rain started to fall at 6:30 in the morning, and didn’t stop, even after we had left Cardiff Castle at the end of the race.

Barry Awan ran a great race to finish 15th on stage 11, a mountain stage that started at 7 am! Jo Thompson then produced another great performance (one of many in her career so far) by finishing 7th on stage 12, and winning the first lady prize. Jo certainly put all the men who finished behind her to shame!

Craig Davey ran a good race to finish 13th on stage 13, while Steve Rose battled 11 miles of uphill pain, fighting the strong winds, rain and the cold up Drovers to finish an excellent 12th on stage 14. Steve’s performance was an excellent one, as Drovers is certainly the toughest of the mountain stages.

David Vaudin ran an great race to finish 13th on stage 15, while Geoff Davis showed true grit by crossing the line in an excellent 31st position on stage 16, the final of the 6 mountain stages. Luke Sturgess-Durden came a superb 4th on stage 17, who like everyone else on Sunday had to deal with strong winds and heavy rain.

Niall Urquhart put in one of his best performances to date, by finishing 3rd on stage 18, and had the added bonus of winning 1st veteran. Tom Hutchison certainly didn’t mind the weather and came an excellent 12th on stage 19.

Guy Landon rounded things off in style on the final stage by finishing 5th, and by doing so kept up his recent run of good form (following pbs in both the marathon and 10k).

 

Results:

1. Serpentine RC 21:04:57

2. Les Croupiers RC 21:22:54 (+17:57)

3. Sale Harriers 21:45:16 (+40:19)

4. Wirral AC 21:51:04 (+46:07)

5. Team Bath AC 22:05:23 (+60:25)

6. Clevedon AC 22:33:28 (+88:31)

 

Saturday’s results:

Stage 1 (9.1 miles): 5th. Alan Buckingham (V) 57:36 (+2:48)

Stage 2 (10.7 miles): 5th. Dave Gunstone (V) 64:48 (+5:01)

Stage 3  (Mountain) (12.3 miles): 6th Dan Jones 70:45 (+4:31)

Stage 4 (9.5 miles): 4th Laura Parsonage 54:37 (+1:02)

Stage 5 (9.6 miles): 5th Alan Every (V) 60:52 (+8:41)

Stage 6 (10.7 miles): 20th. Nick Bower (V) 73:52 (+16:50)

Stage 7 (Mountain) (9.75 miles): 13th. Mark Bown 61:46 (+9:27)

Stage 8 (10.8 miles): 14th. Malcolm Treby (V) 68:58 (+7:35)

Stage 9 (8.6 miles): 6th. Andy Maggs (V) 51:16 (+3:58)

Stage 10 (Mountain) (13.3 miles): 6th. Dave Coales (V) 76:25 (+4:25)

 

Sunday’s Results:

Stage 11 (Mountain) (12.3 miles): 15th. Barry Awan (V) (80:57) (+10:41)

Stage 12 (11.2 miles): 7th. Jo Thompson (V) (67:55) (+8:06)

Stage 13 (10.6 miles): 13th. Craig Davey (V) (70:36) (+11:02)

Stage 14 (Mountain) (11.0 miles): 12th. Steve Rose (V) (72:53) (+8:29)

Stage 15 (12.8 miles): 13th. David Vaudin (V) (81:05) (+10:45)

Stage 16 (Mountain) (8.8 miles): 31st. Geoff Davis (V) (64:36) (+13:56)

Stage 17 (9.2 miles): 4th. Luke Sturgess-Durden (V) (55:00) (+2:57)

Stage 18 (9.1 miles): 3rd. Niall Urquhart (V) (56:25) (+5:11)

Stage 19 (10.8 miles): 12th. Tom Hutchison (V) (71:32) (+5:28)

Stage 20 (10.7 miles): 5th. Guy Landon (V) (63:28) (+5:43)

 

Full Results: http://www.welshcastlesrelay.org.uk/results/2011/index.html

Our young athletes continued their unbeaten run in the NYAL match at Bath with the third victory in 3 matches. This time we were up against arch rivals Swindon, who were lying second to us in the league only 5 points behind.

We needed to pull out all the stops today and this we did, despite horrible weather, yet again, to win with 511 points, with Swindon second with 483 points and Rhonnda third with 118 points.

The day began with Livia Gauntlett producing a G1 performance in the U/15 girls 75m hurdles of 11.9, a PB and English Schools entry standard. The other track performance of the day came from Loren Bleaken who produced two more G1 performanes, in the U/17w 800m in 2.12.1 and the 300m in 40.6 and a G2 in the 200m in 25.8 with Eliza Reid in second in 25.9. The other G1 performance came from Sam Boulton in the U/15 boys discus with a throw of 36m70.

Other track winners were Charlie Fraser, (who showed real commitment by travelling all the way back from Cornwall with mum, finding the house flooded and still turned up to compete, good on yer Charlie!) in the U/15 boys 80m hurdles in 13.9 and Adam Whittaker in the U/17 mens 100m hurdles in 16.3, Robert Howorth in the U/13 boys 800m in 2.25.8 with Oscar Warren-Fisher in second in 2.40.2 and 200m in 28.8, Sophie Hay in the U/13 girls 75m in 10.6,

Eliza Reid won the U/17 womens 100m in 12.7, Devante Charles in the U/17 mens 100m in 12.2 with Billy Thorpe in second in 12.3, William Kennedy in the U/15 100m and 200m in 12.0 and 24.3, Rhys Brown in the U/17 400m and 400m hurdles in 53.5 and 59.7 and Natalie Nash in the U/17 1500m in 5.45.4.

In the field, double wins for Sam Boulton in the U/15 boys discus with 36m70 and shot with 11m04, Jasmin Hennessey in the U/13 girls long jump with 3m80 and high jump with 1m31, and Chloe Merritt in the U/15 girls high jump with 1m51with Alice Reynolds in second with 1m45 and javelin with 16m92 with Tania Gilbert in second place with 12m22.

Other winners were Josh Hay in the U/17mens hammer with 18m24, with Ben Fielding in second place with 15m03, Katie Phillips in the U/17 womens hammer with 19m02, Vinnie Gilbert in the U/17 mens javelin with 24m47, Adam Whittaker in the U/17 mens long jump with 5m10 with Billy Thorpe in second with 5m05, Alice Reynolds in the U/15 girls discus with 11m68, Tania Gilbert in the U/15 girls shot with 5m75, Afeni Payne-Bonnick in the U/15 gilrs long jump with 3m98, William Kennedy in the U/15 boys long jump with 5m25and Billy Thorpe in the U/17 mens triple jump with 11m23.

The 4 x 100m relay teams for U/17 women (Eliza Reid, Leah Brown, Emily Dixon and Amber James) in 51.4, U/17men (Devante Charles, Matthew Holt, Alex Dudridge and Billy Thorpe) in 50.5 and U/15 girls (Livia Gauntlett, Kezia Brennen-Davies, Tania Gilbert and Afeni Payne-Bonnick) in 55.7 also won.

Well done to all who competed, especially those who competed in the pouring rain. Due to the weather the pole vault had to be cancelled so that was 12 banker points gone. When oh when, are we going to get some decent weather to compete in? It is now June and our athletes have yet to have a nice day to compete in. Shame on those who didn’r bother to turn up without letting the team managers know.

You know who you are and you have let the club down. However, on the bright side, there were a lot of new faces competing and some welcome returnees. It was also great to see athletes tackling new events just for the points. Yes, Alice and Josh, I mean you.

Thanks to Alison and Caroline for all their hard work in getting a strong team out in spite of half term etc. Unless Llanelli/Neath scored a huge number of points in the other match, we should now be sitting on top of the league with just one more match to go. We meet Llanelli/Neath in two weeks at Swansea so we really need everyone to be available for that match. Next week, first Avon league so we want to see some seniors out for that, don’t leave it all to our great kids, get out there and support them.

Results:

NYAL Bath

Junior Team Bath AC athletes representing Team Avon at the second NJAL match of the season in Cardiff  had a very successful day. Many Avon records were set, both on the track and field.

Avon Records:

Team Avon Records

Full results can be found via: http://www.teambathac.org/comps-and-results/results/?event=79